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B. Rafini: Address to Summit 2022, Session III
Written by H.E. Brigi Rafini, executive secretary, Community of Sahel-Saharan States (CEN-SAD); prime minister of Niger (2011-2021)
Friday, August 12, 2022
Address to Summit 2022 and Leadership Conference,
Seoul, Korea, August 11-15, 2022
It is with great pleasure that I take the floor on the occasion of this high-level conference, the objective of which is to address the current challenges of a world in perpetual change.
Allow me to pay tribute to Reverend Sun Myung Moon, founder of the Universal Peace Federation, for his vision that led to the creation of this platform which today represents a powerful instrument in the service of world peace and sustainable development.
Also I would like to thank the Mother of Peace, Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon, and the Organizing Committee for the invitation and the fraternal welcome we have received on Korean soil.
Your Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen:
This Summit 2022 and Leadership Conference, being held under the theme "Toward Peace on the Korean Peninsula: Toward a World Culture of Peace," comes at a time when the world is facing major challenges such as terrorism, climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic, clandestine migration, etc. These challenges transcend continents, and we are all aware of the need to address them.
This is why a synergy of actions between all the actors of the multilateral system is imperative to reverse the current trend.
To help create this synergy, the Universal Peace Federation is an appropriate framework as a platform for multi-actor dialogue.
In this respect, it has the vocation to serve as an accelerator of synergies to finally become, in the words of the former secretary-general of the United Nations, H.E. Ban Ki-moon, the "cornerstone for building lasting peace in the world."
In this perspective, the Community of Sahel-Saharan States, through all its member nations, intends to play its part in contributing to the achievement of this common ideal.
The Community of Sahel-Saharan States was established in February 1998 in Tripoli, Libya. It consists of 25 member states with a total population of over 650 million, covering an area of approximately 14 million square kilometers, which corresponds to more than half of the African continent.
It is one of the eight regional economic communities that make up the African Union. Its action is in line with the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals and the African Union's Agenda 2063.
The member nations of CEN-SAD have a predominantly young population. This is why our community organization is actively translating into action the recommendations of the Sustainable Development Goals, inviting partners to reaffirm their support for the promotion of youth welfare.
It also takes into account the Strategic Framework for Action of the youth program of the New Partnership for Africa's Development, through capacity building and youth development.
The implementation of these instruments is a structural response to the temptations to which young people are exposed, such as enrollment in non-state armed groups, transnational organized crime, trafficking, irregular migration, etc.
Investment in youth is an investment in the long term, an investment in the future, and certainly an investment in the promotion of peace, stability and sustainable development of our states.
Indeed, they are in great need of such investments. They need your support, as our partners, to create the best conditions for the empowerment and resilience of young people in Africa.
It is an imperative for us: We must train our youth so that they can resolutely take charge of their destiny. I am pleased to recall that the education of youth was the subject of a resolution at the end of the summit organized by the Universal Peace Federation, in collaboration with the Government of Niger, in 2019 in Niamey.
The youth also need us to create opportunities for their employability to bring out their talent, creative genius and innovative capacities.
Investing in the development of our youth also means investing in the climate, because sustainable development in the Sahel-Saharan region is closely linked to climate change issues.
In our countries, climate change is combined with desertification, the degradation of livelihoods due to the depletion of natural resources, migration, violent extremism and various forms of trafficking.
In line with its objectives of transforming and development of Africa, the Community of Sahel-Saharan States intends to implement an important program titled "Great Green Wall Youth Program," which aims at strengthening the socio-economic and environmental added value of the Great Green Wall through the mobilization of youth.
Indeed, the Great Green Wall is an initiative born from the will of the heads of state and government of 11 African countries to undertake together concerted actions to combat desertification and to promote sustainable land management.
This initiative will make it possible to restore ecosystems, ensure the food security of populations, fight poverty and commit countries to a sustainable development path.
Vast and very ambitious but realistic and achievable, the program we are proposing aims to accelerate the implementation of the Great Green Wall, while amplifying its environmental, social and economic benefits for our populations.
To this end, I call for a strong mobilization and multifaceted support from all partners, bilateral and multilateral, public and private, for the effective implementation of this important program, with a view to increasing the resilience of the populations of the Sahel-Saharan region.
In conclusion, I would like to express the hope that this summit can serve as a framework for the implementation of a new alliance for peace and a partnership for a better, more united and more sustainable future for all.
At the 2020 Summit, which I attended here in Seoul, Korea, alongside the Mother of Peace, a new hope was born. However, the COVID-19 pandemic very quickly undermined the chances of implementing the Declaration of Peace signed on that occasion.
For the UN secretary-general, H.E. António Guterres, "This crisis is, above all, a human crisis that calls for our solidarity." More than ever, we need solidarity, hope and political will to overcome this terrible crisis together, he stressed.
Indeed, we need to revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development, for peace, for the fight against global warming, for the fight against conflicts, to save the world, humanity and its youth around an innovative vision, centered on the principles of interdependence, mutual prosperity and universally shared values.
Faced with a global crisis, a global solution is needed, because the destiny of our continents is interrelated.
Finally, I must thank Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon for her far-sighted vision and boundless love, which has made this Summit 2022 and Leadership Conference possible.
I thank you for your kind attention.
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